Impact Church in Scottsdale, Arizona

“Sports are interwoven in our church culture,” says Pastor Travis, who still leads chapel for the Phoenix Suns, the Arizona Cardinals, the Phoenix Mercury, and, several major league baseball teams. “We offer a lot of ministries for pro-athletes. It’s how we started, and it’s the core of who we are today.” Yet the sports industry isn’t the only thing that has helped shape Impact Church. From day one, Pastor Travis implemented the five purposes—proven principles he first learned about while attending a Purpose Driven Church (PDC) conference decades before. As a youth pastor at the time, he made a point to attend every PDC conference held at Saddleback Church. “It was very foundational for me as a young man in ministry,” says Pastor Travis. “Now fast forward through the years as a senior pastor, and none of that has changed. For us Purpose Driven is simply the Jesus model of making disciples, reaching the lost, and teaching people together with a network of churches around the world. Instead of building walls, we’re a group of churches building bridges by partnering with one another.” Pastor Travis says the PD model has proven effective at Impact Church. If fact, it’s so much a part of their DNA, they don’t know how to do church any other way. Following PD by the book, they consistently balance all five purposes by offering CLASS 101-401, small groups, local outreach, and missions. Just as Saddleback Church partnered with Rwanda, Impact Church is now an International Partnering Church (IPC) with the country of Zimbabwe. In 2017, Pastor Travis traveled to that African nation to train nearly 400 pastors from 80 denominations, on how to become a Purpose Driven Church. From balancing the purposes, to catering to athletes, these committed efforts have positively shaped their demographic and attendance, with a culturally diverse staff and congregation of several thousand members. In his seven years as lead pastor, Travis has seen countless lives transformed including those of pro-athletes, Channing Frye, Joshua Childress, and Patrick Peterson—all of whom gave their lives to Christ and were baptized through Impact Church. While the stories of transformation continue, Pastor Travis says fame and status play no role in the church. “Whether they’re famous or not, they’re just people,” he says. “We’re simply in the business of loving people and caring for those who are hurting. The big picture is about fulfilling The Great Commission and The Great Commandment. Like I tell my church, if there’s one person that doesn’t know Christ, we’ve got work to do.” To learn more about building a Purpose Driven Church, visit pdchurch.flywheelstaging.com/start.